A major shift is underway in the online advertising industry. Marketers are aggressively challenging media companies to prove the ads they sell actually appear on users’ screens, as opposed to parts of web pages people never see.

To most across the industry the concept of buying and selling “viewable” ads instead of “served” ones makes complete sense. The problem is, nobody can seem to agree what “viewable” actually means. Read More »

Facebook is changing the way it charges for cost-per-click ads across its network, the company said Wednesday.

The social network will alter its definition of a “click” to only include clicks or taps which drive users to websites and apps. Previously it charged marketers when users clicked or tapped any part of an ad, including to like, share or comment on it. Read More »

Google is hosting its DoubleClick Leadership Summit today. During the event, the company is planning to make a slew of product announcements, including a new tool designed to help marketers figure out which parts of their online ad campaigns are working best, as well as new ad serving capabilities for native ad placements. Read More »

Growth in the use of mobile devices has surprised even Google, but its lucrative advertising machine is healthy and handling the transition, advertising chief Sridhar Ramaswamy said Thursday. Read More »

Google added shopping elements to YouTube’s skippable pre-roll video advertisements, known as TrueView ads. During some TrueView ads, viewers will also see products for sale, with prices, images and a button to click that will take them to an advertiser’s website to buy the item. Read More »

The software company Mediaocean, which many top ad agencies use to transact on media, has inked a deal with Moat, one of the leading analytics firms leading the charge to improve online ad viewability.

The new deal, say both companies, will enable advertisers to purchase only ad inventory that has been gauged by Moat to be actually viewable. Having such data built into the ad buying/billing infrastructure employed by so many ad agencies could provide huge momentum for advertisers looking to purchase only viewable ads, said Moat chief executive Jonah Goodhart. Read More »

Internet ad revenues in the U.S. totaled $49.5 billion in 2014, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Internet Advertising Revenue report, a 16% increase over 2013 revenues.

The trade body released its annual report on Wednesday morning, which was conducted by PricewaterHouseCoopers, and estimated a fifth year of consecutive double-digit growth for the online advertising industry. Meanwhile ad spend on broadcast and cable television combined totaled $65.7 billion over the course of the year, the report said. Read More »

Internet users are increasingly making use of software that blocks ads from appearing as they move around the Web. The trend is a growing concern for online publishers, many of which rely on advertising as a major source of revenue. Read More »

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